One of the cornerstones of the law in South Africa is the right of every citizen to fair representation if they’re accused of a crime.

For many lawyers and advocates, though, representing members of the criminal underworld is proving to be a life-threatening undertaking.

In 2016, attorney Noorudien Hassan was shot outside his Lansdowne home. He had been working on several cases involving known underworld figures.

Last year, advocate Pete Mihalik was shot and killed outside his children’s school in Green Point.

Earlier this year, criminal defence attorney David Mbazwana was shot and killed outside a Khayelitsha spaza shop. Three people were arrested in connection with his murder.

Now, just last week, city advocate Vernon Jantjies, known for representing alleged gang members, was killed in Mitchells Plain.

The Mail & Guardian reports that people have described it as an “execution-style” killing.

Several attorneys and advocates told the Mail & Guardian that their fraternity is now “under siege”. They said that they are seen as soft targets, particularly by people who think legal representatives are an extension of their clients.

A criminal defence lawyer, who did not want to be named, said: “We have now become the targets of the rivals of those we represent.”

“Also at times, I could be representing a 26 [the Numbers Gang] and a 28 gangster. I could get the one off, but the other loses his case. So at the end of the day they’re taking us, the lawyers, out.”

As a result, many lawyers and advocates are refusing to take on gang-related cases. Those who were already representing gang members are slowly phasing those clients out.

Caryn Dolley whose book, The Enforcers: Inside Cape Town’s Deadly Nightclub Battles, detailed the inner-workings of the city’s organised crime underbelly believes lawyers — through the information they hold — are key players.

She believes that, although some people in the legal fraternity have noble intentions and want to uphold the spirit of the law by defending alleged criminals, others may unintentionally become complicit in gang wars by being seen to be picking sides.

Dolley claims that almost every part of Cape Town is “touched by organised crime”.

“The underworld isn’t really the underworld. There are links to where everyone shops, where everyone eats. This is just an extension of what is happening. No one is immune from underworld activities. There are no demarcated areas where underworld activities occur. This is part and parcel of this massive problem, which is [the] state-infused underworld.”

After 1994, South Africa’s re-entry into the international community coincided with an increase of international travel, as well as better banking systems, cellphone technology, and communication networks.

The South African Police Service had to be reorganised as laws were changed. This transitional period that saw SAPS move from a strong arm of the apartheid state, to one that would police a free and fair South Africa, also created a space in which organised crime could flourish unchecked for a number of years.

South Africa is therefore increasingly being used as a conduit for organised crime, which generates large amounts of funds that enable organised criminal groups to penetrate and corrupt both government and commercial entities – take the Guptas for example.

In Cape Town, the military presence in the Cape Flats, did little to curb gang violence in the area. 

Meanwhile, law and the practice of criminal law looks like it’s increasingly becoming a very dangerous profession.

[source:mail&guardian]